The Justice of Bunny King

At first I watched this movie just to watch Thomasin McKenzie, and yes it turns out that this film has a good and impressive storyline about the struggle of a mother and unconditional love even for her niece. Good acting from all actors, you should try to watch this movie.

In New Zealand, Bunny King (Essie Davis) is a struggling single mother living in poverty. Her two kids are stuck in foster care. She needs to find a home before she has a chance to get them back. She lives with her sister's family until she finds her niece Tonyah (Thomasin McKenzie) being abused by her stepdad.

Rooting for Bunny can be tough with her self-destructive nature. I like her character, but her manic personality can be a bit much sometimes. She would be a lot easier to root for if she doesn't keep getting into her own way. I do like her with Tonyah, but more can be done with that story. The very last scene is a bit problematic. It's a continuation of Bunny's chaotic ways. I'd rather she deal with her problem head on.

This little gem was co-written and is the first full-length feature film directorial debut for New Zealand filmmaker Gaysorn Thavat, and she gave us an exceptional piece of filmmaking. This film reminds me a lot of To Leslie starring Andrea Riseborough, as it highlights real-world socioeconomic issues that tug at your heart-strings. It has many depths and layers of emotional intelligence, with exceptional character study on the undeterred spirit of a mother held back by societies systems. It is told with conviction and anger, with some great occasional moments of dark comedy. But great directing and storytelling needs an equally great performance, and Essie Davis as Bunny brought that authenticity needed to elevate the filmmaking to the top shelf. For that matter, all casting and performances deserve praise, as does the cinematography and score. It's a definite must-see and well deserved 9/10 from me.

The protagonist "Bunny" has to find back to her place in the world, but since the society wont make it easy for an homeless women and institutions, who are used to help her, are failing her in any way, she's forced to find her own way by breaking a few laws.

The idea is simple, an homeless woman is trapped in a circle of poverty: in order to see her kids she has to get a home, in order to get a home she has to get work, also she has to look like "i'm-not-homess" in order to get a home or work. So it's difficult to get to her children, but she is trying anyway.

In addition to that, her niece "Tonya" experience the horror, and Bunny confronts her sister with it, but she doesn't believe her. So Bunnys mission throughout the movie is rescuing Tonya and celebrating her daughters birthday, while nobody will listen to her. To achieve that, she makes uncomfortable decisions like lying, exploiting or destroying.

The movie contains just a few characters, so Essie Davis ("Bunny") and Thomasin McKenzie ("Tonya") had to deliver and they did. I would recomment this movie to everyone who likes emotional dramas.

For me it's a good movie, I will watch it a second time some day.

I've been using IMDB for over a decade, and have been loving films for the last twenty years. Despite that, I've never left a review up until now. I went into this film knowing nothing, but finished watching it with a sense of sadness and an overwhelming feeling of empathy towards any parent who's ever been in a seemingly hopeless fight for their children. This film was absolutely fantastic in every regard. The cinematography was superb, the acting was top class, and the storyline had suitable twists in all the right places. I really wanted to leave a review because I feel all those involved earned it - 221 reviews doesn't do this film justice at all. If you enjoy social issues, the peculiar and untimely dilemmas of life, and aren't afraid to watch something raw and honest, give this a go. I'm glad I did, thank you to you all for making it so great.